The Tone-Deaf Healer Kills with a Song - Chapter 85

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Tone-Deaf Healer Kills with Song – Episode 085
Beneath the Golden Tree, we were fortunate enough to harvest medicinal herbs in quantities that overflowed our grasp.
Though the amount was woefully insufficient to peddle at the marketplace, it was more than abundant for revitalizing two hunters.
The verdant herbs, tinged with a pale cerulean hue, possessed an almost restorative quality merely by sight—as if one’s chest could breathe easier.
“What dish are you preparing with these?”
“Bibimbap that honors the herbs’ natural essence.”
“How wonderfully Korean of you.”
Here were people preparing bibimbap with herbs that craftspeople would bid upon with fervent intensity the moment they appeared at market—herbs of legendary rarity.
Anyone observing would sense the aura of a top-tier ranker. This was true K-luxury.
Jung Hwan-jae had brought numerous other edible herbs to what was called the mini kitchen.
“The ones that cannot be eaten raw without preparation—I blanched or lightly steamed them at dawn. I had no wish to compromise their inherent flavors.”
Jung Hwan-jae spoke with utmost seriousness as he tossed the vegetables with meticulous care.
A handsome man dressed in a black shirt and black slacks, vinyl gloves adorning his hands.
He now wore a contemplative expression as he seasoned the vegetables in a stainless steel bowl, crafting the bibimbap with deliberate precision.
“Senior, I know this might sound abrupt and out of nowhere, but…”
“Go ahead.”
“You’re prime husband material.”
He halted his diligent movements and lifted his gaze. His eyes reflected a moment of contemplation—wondering what I truly meant by such words.
“You cook well, you’re domestic, and you’d treat your wife wonderfully. Plus, your abilities are exceptional.”
“Mm.”
“If you had in-laws, I’m certain you’d treat them splendidly too.”
‘Of course, I have no parents.’
At that point, I suddenly snapped from my solitary reverie.
Why was I connecting Jung Hwan-jae gaining in-laws with my own lack of parents? What possible relevance could there be?
‘I’m grateful only Liri can read my thoughts.’
[Liri: I don’t intrude on your mind unless you’re in genuine danger.]
[Liri: But since you suddenly brought it up, I’m dying to know?]
‘Absolutely not!’
[Liri: I understand, I understand.]
[Liri: I’m your handler, and I’ll never do anything you forbid me from doing, so don’t worry.]
I forcibly suppressed the heat rising to my face.
Though my thoughts had wandered into absurdity, my feelings remained genuine. Prime husband material.
How many fans had already mentally cast him as my boyfriend or husband?
As if the two of us would actually marry. What nonsense.
I furrowed my brow, then smoothed it again.
“Would anyone truly care for a man like me, never knowing when death might claim him in a Dungeon?”
“Finding a non-hunter spouse is harder these days. And you certainly can’t end up with someone who won’t understand.”
“What of a man who might vanish entirely when his mana is completely depleted?”
Jung Hwan-jae’s voice carried a playful lightness.
Even with all this? Even so? he seemed to tease, testing me with his jest.
If I speak like this, I can’t lose either.
“I have a way. I’ll work much harder to ensure that Senior can create mana on his own.”
“That would also mean we need to stay together all the time.”
“Ah….”
No matter how much of a colleague she was, if she was saying we’d have to sleep together every night and do things in close proximity, wasn’t that practically making me prime husband material?
If I were someone with a thick skin, I would have said something like “then why don’t you just marry me?” at this point, but I wasn’t that kind of person.
I had no choice but to silently admit that I was the loser in this conversation.
I thought I’d presented airtight logic this time, but I’d failed.
He pushed a bowl of bibimbap toward me, with a white ceramic spoon already placed in it.
True to form, Koreans were Koreans—even inside a Dungeon, there was a diverse variety of kimchi.
For me, it was actually something to welcome.
I took a large spoonful of bibimbap and put it in my mouth.
It was truly delicious.
Even if I could put anything into my mouth and endlessly repeat “it’s delicious” like someone with an unsophisticated palate, I could still tell when something was genuinely good.
It was just rice mixed with what seemed to be a simple combination of salt, sesame oil, gochujang, and fried egg.
Bibimbap really was the great driving force that moved Koreans.
“You added sesame oil and sesame seeds?”
“To be precise, it’s oil and seeds extracted from a Mandrake.”
There wasn’t a single normal ingredient in this.
That abnormal ingredients could come together to create such a fantastic taste—that must be the chef’s skill.
As soon as I emptied my bowl, he added more bibimbap as if he’d been waiting for it.
I shot him a sharp look wondering if I was the only one eating, but I relaxed when I saw him also eating from a generously filled bowl.
“Senior, do you happen to have a separate Cooking stat?”
“No, I don’t have anything like that.”
“Then it’s natural talent.”
Even if you used the same ingredients and made it the same way, the taste varied greatly depending on who was mixing it.
There was a reason the phrase “mother’s touch” existed.
As I was fiercely emptying my second bowl, he handed me a cup of cool tea and cautiously opened his mouth.
“Sharing mana is said to be similar to sharing one’s soul.”
“Sharing souls?”
“Yes, it’s not about mana going back and forth through ordinary healing or mutual buffs—it means giving and receiving your mana itself to and from each other.”
Was that similar to what I’d done with Jung Hwan-jae in the ranking match?
So that meant I’d shared souls with Jung Hwan-jae.
I was thinking it was somewhat romantic when his calm words followed.
“Usually, when a Staff Member gives their divinity to a contractor or transfers their entirety to the other in an urgent situation, it’s said to be in a similar context.”
“Ah, I see….”
“And because this sharing of souls occurs, whether human or Staff Member, one comes to feel deep emotions toward the other.”
Because I’d taken a piece of my soul and given it for the other person.
Seen that way, mana was truly fascinating.
You could use it freely, but ultimately wasn’t it the essence of a soul that’s endlessly replenished?
Through cultivation and effort, it grows in size, and I can willingly use it for others as well.
Once upon a time in this world, opinions were divided on whether souls truly existed, but ultimately it was proven through the existence of Hunters.
You never know how things will turn out in life.
“So that’s why the Staff Members like us so much. I get it now, roughly. Wow, so souls became data. Algorithms are really fascinating.”
[Liri: That’s right! We are a network made of souls!]
[Liri: Since I’m not a living being alone, my magical power and data don’t recover, so if I use too much, I disappear.]
Liri, who had been observing our conversation all this time, immediately chimed in and displayed her extensive knowledge.
The time he spends explaining things to me is truly precious.
After finishing the meal, he placed the dishes into his inventory, but his expression seemed rather serious.
More precisely, it looked somewhat discouraged rather than serious.
“Senior, what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.”
“You’re not feeling sick or anything, are you?”
He shook his head with a gloomy expression.
I learned later that Lucy was teasing Jung Hwan-jae tremendously through the message window at that moment.
[Lucy: I really don’t know what to do with you.]
[Lucy: That’s why I, who received magical power from you, feel such closeness too. What about you? Unable to say those words.]
[Lucy: Idiot.]
However, I didn’t learn the truth of such messages until quite some time later.
On that day, I was quite excited about the delicious bibimbap and the semi-date with him, and Jung Hwan-jae was a taciturn fool who couldn’t utter a single word.
“So we’re really going to do missions now?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Jung Hwan-jae regained his spirits about ten minutes later.
We tidied up and moved on.
Our hands naturally held each other. This time, Jung Hwan-jae even reached out and took my hand first.
My palm felt ticklish, so I started speaking to change the subject.
“Oh, that’s right. Now that I think about it, is Lucy still giving you magical power these days?”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————